Published 2 years ago
by
Kofi Outlaw
, Updated February 22nd, 2013 at 6:41 am,

Your casual Star Warsfan knows about the six-part saga George Lucas brought to the movie screen; however, your hardcorefan (or those who simply enjoy good sci-fi literature) know all about the Star Wars Expanded Universe (EU) – a series of books, TV shows, video games, etc., which have taken Lucas’ story well beyond what the movies depicted.

That expanded universe got its “big bang” in the form of author Timothy Zahn’s early-90s books, collectively known as “The Thrawn Trilogy,” and continued from there, often following the lineage of characters like Luke Skywalker and Han Solo. Today, we have further rumoring that Star Wars Episode VII could include elements that at least hint at the Expanded Universe continuity serving as the film’s core.

Building upon the recent news that Harrison Ford is returning as Han Solo in Episode VII, Showbiz 411claims that Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher will ALSO be back as Luke and Leia Skywalker, in a story focusing on their respective children. Any reader of Star Wars EU will instantly recognize the writing on the wall, as names like Jacen, Jaina and Anakin Solo – or Ben Skywalker – are already familiar to them.

For those who never experienced Star Wars beyond the movie screen: Zahn’s “Thrawn Trilogy” picked up five years after Return of Jedi, and included the birth of Han and Leia Solo’s twins, Jacen and Jaina. They – along with their little brother Anakin Solo and cousin Ben Skywalker – would later be featured in many EU storylines – like “New Jedi Order” -most notably (for our purposes here), the “Legacy of the Force” saga.

“Legacy of the Force” was written in the mid-2000s by authors Troy Denning, Aaron Allston and Karen Traviss; it featured most of the surviving Skywalker/Solo offspring, as well as their legendary parents Luke, Mara Jade (Skywalker), Han and Leia. Did I mention that LotF is set 40 years after A New Hope – almost exactly the real-world span of time between that film’s release and the release date of Episode VII? You see where this is headed…

LotF chronicles how the Corellian system (Han’s home) tries to secede from the Galatic Alliance, resulting in political/military skirmish, while the Jedi Order (led by Luke) senses a growing Sith threat (Lumiya). In the midst of all this, Han and Leia’s son Jacen, now a trained Jedi, is lured to the Dark Side and must ultimately face his twin sister Jaina in battle. A major subplot involves a dying Boba Fett’s family, and his training of Jaina Solo to defeat Jacen, who has transformed into Darth Caedus.

Darth Caedus

A streamlined or amalgamated version of this EU saga makes a certain amount of sense for Disney’s next trilogy of films, as it offers a mix of both the old and the new. It also would fit in step with a lot of what we have seen or heard rumored about the film, including:

The hiring of Little Miss Sunshine and Toy Story 3writer Michael Ardnt to pen the script (an Oscar-winning expert in the “heart-meets-humor, touch of darkness” department).

Super 8 and Star Trek Into Darkness director J.J. Abrams being hired (again, that kid-friendly humor and heart, mixed with blockbuster sci-fi talent and just a dash of darkness).

The re-hiring of Harrison Ford (and possibly Hamill and Fisher), who could conceivably return to the franchise at their current ages.

The hiring of Empire Strikes Back writer Lawrence Kasadan to work on Episodes 8&9 (the guy who nailed the darker Shakespearian family drama of Star Wars) – alongside Simon Kinberg (known for younger more modern fare like Jumper and Sherlock Holmes).

Rumors of other young actors being sought to star in the film.

There’s nothing CONCRETE to say that Disney is going to draw directly from LotF as its inspiration for Episode VII, but the incentive is clearly there. From the title “Legacy of the Force” to the storyline (which echoes many themes and arcs from the previous two trilogies), to the character/casting and merchandising opportunities, this is ripe material for an epic onscreen movie trilogy. It also allows for the already-announced Star Wars standalone films (which are being released in between episode chapters) to flesh-out characters like Boba Fett, who is featured prominently in stories like LotF.

For now, however, it’s important to remember that the semi-official word from sources is that Disney is most likely going in a NEW direction, with an “original” storyline for Episode VII. While that may well be true, bringing back original series characters (and possibly featuring their offspring) in a storyline that isn’t drawing from EU material is going to invite skepticism (and ire) from hardcore fans.

Jaina Solo vs. Darth Caedus (Jacen Solo)

Then again, the beauty of having so MUCH expanded universe material (which has a high proven success rate in some cases) allows for the picking and choosing of key storylines and characters to be mixed and matched in a movie script. Could we ultimately see some amalgamation of EU novels and mythos? I, for one, would be for it (mixing the Thrawn saga, NJO and LotF is okay by me!).

What do YOU think – are we seeing something akin to Legacy of the Force shaping up onscreen? And if so, would you be ok with that being your next Star Wars trilogy? Or are you hoping for entirely NEW material? Sound off in the comments.

———

Star Wars Episode VII will be in theaters in 2015 (though that’s currently subject to change).

290 Comments

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Chris Fawkes 2 years ago

I loved the look on Mark Hamill’s face when they introduced William Shatner at George Lucas’s birthday party

@Commentatorer
There no need to be so rude or negative. Based on your screen name and the way you’re writing, im going to assume you’re like twelve or thirteen, so its probably best if you just get off of here before you make an even bigger fool of yourself

This is quite frankly the BEST comment on this article. Way to go HeyZeusKreesto. That and the fact that its a true statement doesn’t hurt either. I for one hope Disney/Lucasfilm embrace the Expanded Universe. Star Wars would not be where it is today if not for the EU. Everyone can sit on here and hate on the EU, but it and it alone elevated Star Wars to the place it now holds in people’s minds. The movies did not and could not do that alone.

God awful yourself! The Yuuzhan Vong war was actually a quite refreshing storyline since for once, it didn’t revolve around the usual Jedi vs. Sith conflict. And please, the EU is so much richer than that, you can’t honestly restrict it to the short 5 year span of the invasion. And if you find the Yuuzhan Vong “god awful,” you must find the prequel trilogy absolutely abysmal. And THAT was written by Lucas…

Seems like the trolls have decided to take over. You guys are so beyond pathetic you’re becoming a laughing stock.

Waldorf 2 years ago

I guess you would know since you are one bwahaha.

Josh Calkins 2 years ago

He’s a safe target for overblown garbage and style over substance, but still, Dark of the Moon had several great moments. Even Pearl Harbor, when it wasn’t sucking ass or missing the point entirely, had some scenes of beauty and even historical relevance. (the Dog fights off the cliffs of Dover, the Dolittle raids at the end, several depictions of the famous attack that have no rival on film..). He’s not talentless, but I can see why people believe that he is.

Second, Lucas wrote the 2nd and 3rd screen plays of tESB since he hated the 1st one so much, and the 4th was Kasdan but it was only a rewite of the 3rd mainly meant to touch up Lucas’s poor dialog. However the woman who wrote the 1st script died so Lucas took his name off the credits and put her in his place. Regardless though Lucas did cowrite Empire.

So I wouldn’t say quite the same formula since in this case Lucas will actually be less involved then ever before. However let’s be realistic just cause Lucas is less involved doesn’t prove it will be better or worse, but one can hope…

Lucas had Ideas for 7-9. But never actually made it part of the story. He threw them out a couple times, then changed his mind, then changed it again. so the expanded stuff is needed I would say since Lucas never officially had a story for 7-9

I completely agree. And it baffles me how many people put down Mr. Lucas, yet they’ll be the first in line come opening day. Even with new blood involved it is still his universe and people should pay him some respect for creating something that we love to participate in.

Yes, let us sincerely recall that Lucas created Star Wars and had lots of ideas we enjoyed. Let us also never forget what happened when he had all the resources and free reign to do anything he wanted on his own time, with his own companies, with his own money. He made the misguided special editions, and the deeply flawed, frequently embarrassing prequels. Honor the man, sure, but don’t lose perspective, and above all don’t let him keep ruining Star Wars. Gene Rodennberry was no God either, by the way. I appreciate what he did well, and I leave it at that. He had some great ideas and some terrible ones. He created Trek, and then he lazily cashed in. He deserves respect and is the undisputed creator of Trek as an idea, but whenever I hear the ill-informed fan spewing quasi-religious awe about the wondrous vision of the man I am ready to puke. The fact of the matter is that Star Wars became great when new talents took hold and created Empire Strikes Back. Trek became great only by casting off the limitations and rules of Roddenberry. Both franchises thrived and improved under the guidance of other people. Both creators were deeply flawed individuals with hangups and weaknesses and blindspots galore, and we fans are lucky to leave them out of the future. Thanks guys, someone else can take it from here! Blind praise and bottomless insults are both ridiculous.

“in a storyline that isn’t drawing from EU material is going to invite skepticism (and ire) from hardcore fans.”

Yea, too bad no one cares about their complaints so stop acting that the “hardcore fans” are the only audience. Also, stop trying to force the EU material like it matters because it doesn’t and the movies are the only material that 99% of the audience care about.

They have been effectively retconned out of existence by The Clone Wars (and TC being “cannon”.) Too bad b/c those were some great EU novels with a superb cast of well-developed characters… and to think, they first appeared in a video game.

What are you referring to? Like what happened in the actual books or why they didn’t continue anything? In the books the Jedi chick who’s name I forget Etain or something like that dies, and all the clones go to live happily ever after on Mandalor (until Troy Denning’s DNA superweapon would have killed them all in the LotF series, but since he is a dumbass who doesn’t know how DNA works apparently they’re all fine.).
If you’re wondering why they didn’t write anymore it’s partly because Karen Traviss is a giant see you next tuesday who can’t get along with anyone.

I assume that the Clone Wars show is cannon. Other than that and the six live movies, the only canonical stories I know of are Shadows of the Empire, and the game Force Unleashed. No other game, book, comic, or Lucas-backed Holliday special is canonical at all, I believe. Like with Star Trek however, it may well be that unofficial stories and characters are made official by their introduction to the films, etc.

I feel that I need to state that about 90% of all published media is canon. This has been stated by Leland Che who is an employee of Lucas Licensing incharge of the offical Star Wars canon. He was given the job by George Lucas to help the canon continue. Lucas gives the books his blessing in monthly meetings and Leland decides what works as canon and what does not. Fact of the matter is that Star Wars is very big and Lucas has given the EU his blessing since 1978 when he oked they plots of the first novel (Splinter of the Mind’s Eye) and the original Marvel Comics series.

TOTAL FILM: “Are you happy for new Star Wars tales to be told after you’re gone?”

LUCAS: “I’ve left pretty explicit instructions for there not to be any more features. There will definitely be no Episodes VII–IX. That’s because there isn’t any story. I mean, I never thought of anything. And now there have been novels about the events after Episode VI, which isn’t at all what I would have done with it. The Star Wars story is really the tragedy of Darth Vader. That is the story. Once Vader dies, he doesn’t come back to life, the Emperor doesn’t get cloned and Luke doesn’t get married…”

But now there will be a episode 7-9. why? Lucas said it right there he didn’t have anything…But now disney owns it, and now They will write it and we will get episodes 7-9. And it will destroy what you think is canon, and what Lucas already says is not canon to him

Like I said earlier, you can’t take anything Lucas says for granted. Star Wars hasn’t always been the tragedy of Vader, he only made it that way when he wrote the prequel trilogy. His statement of having never thought of anything beyond episode VI is also a blatant lie he said back then because making the PT exhausted him and he wanted to be done with it. Now that he’s passing the torch, we’re suddenly told that he actually had outlines for at least one more trilogy as soon as ’78, but the people who can remember that time already knew it. So stop taking Lucas’ statements as the word of God.

Fact of the matter is, He does not have a story. He may have had ideas…but no actual story. Yea he changed his mind over and over. now disney has it. They are going to make the story for him. Whats done is done. lol the things u say in ur defense its pretty sad lol. it’s like ur desperate for words.

Oh goody, ThisIsMyAssFarting strikes again! Funny, I didn’t feel like I was defending myself from anything, rather trying to talk some sense into that thick, antagonizing skull of yours. You of all people finding me pretty sad is priceless, I must say!

Waldorf 2 years ago

I’m getting a kick at all your posts bwahaha.

This Is My Avatar Saying 2 years ago

By the way, u keep up this argument about Lucas and what he says. He IS the creator. So if he says it then thats that pretty much. u saying stop listening to lucas is like saying don’t take Nolans word for it in Inception. There are all kinds of arguments about what did and didn’t happen in the movie, but nobody will really know the truth unless Nolan states what is and whats not. u gonna argue with the creator!?

Hey Strider, that comment about Lucas’ b******* was a response to one of This Is My Avatar Saying’s fanatical eructations, I don’t know why it’s not appearing under it. And please, you just can’t take seriously the word of a guy who says everything and its contrary and has repeatedly flipped his jacket…

This Is My Avatar Saying 2 years ago

you are one hopeless fanboy!

bfg666 2 years ago

*bullsh*t

alex 2 years ago

lol

strider 2 years ago

Lucas and Disney can easily ignore the EU because the majority of the audience don’t read it.

Well, don’t wait for an invitation. Somebody has doubtless made a decision already as whether any or all of the EU stuff should be kept or canned. They will base that decision mostly on what they want the next trilogy to be about, and how suitable the other material is to feeding that new purpose. A cold and simple calculation may well have long since snuffed the prospect of you getting your fandom respected by Disney or Lucas or anybody else. I doubt that those other stories suit a rebirth of the franchise, or even a movie series at all. Therefor the only question is whether they want to lift ANY ideas, and how they could incorporate them. A small offering to the fan base niche could be in the form of a single planet or character crossing into canon. One thing is certain: no way are they adapting stories that you know into the new movies. These will be stories that nobody knows, and if you are lucky they will remember you and imply that they care what you think, but mostly they really don’t. The movies are barely even intended for hard core fans! They are built for the masses because the masses have more money than the hard core fans do. That’s why Trek movies aren’t as good as trek episodes: much broader audience = more money.

Even if that is exactly the truth as you heard it, there are still clearly levels of cannon. Star Trek, for instance, has a very thorough group of editors and higher ups that maintain continuity, cohesion and consistency in every project that is published to the best of their abilities. It gives the non-screen stories a sense of order and connection. They follow many critical rules that are rarely broken, such as no killing off of main characters. There is effectively an off screen canon at work, but it is considered not as official as anything on screen, and essentially gets the vague semi-canonical lable until a truly canonical production solidifies them with on screen references, etc. I do not believe at all that Lucas felt that all these stories were as true and valid as his. In fact I have heard him say otherwise on numerous occaisions. Anything he doesn’t create is another world entirely to him, and not one he knows or cares much about. Even when Roddenberry wrote a novel it wasn’t canon. Anything can be changed, added or contradicted. Expecting all the extended fiction to be honored or even depicted is setting yourself up for likely dissapointment.

Umm… you do realize the books alone have generated half as much money as the movies did in total, and the video games have all but tied the movies in money generated. So I hate to break it to you but the books and video games do matter to a large portion of Star Wars fans, even though most are bad there are a decent number of good to great ones too. Plus quite a bit of book ideas made there way into the prequals and special editions, so based on Lucasarts past history at least a few things from the expanded universe are bound to make it into the new trilogy.

Im cool with using LotF, its better than anything Disney can come up with if you ask me. Maybe as part of the ‘darker tone’ we’ll see Mickey Mouse get impaled through the chest with a lightsaber. Who knows?

George:
The Jedi marrying and having children is inconsistent with the movie-verse. Anakin and Padmé’s marriage certainly wasn’t sanctioned and he would’ve never got to where he was if the order knew about it. So it doesn’t seem reasonable or consistent that Luke would set a bad example by having a family or for him or whatever Jedi council he would put together to allow Leia to be trained or enter the order. That definitely stands in your way of a direct lifting of EU story as rumored in many an article floating around on the Inter-webs.

Ardnt:
Look George this is entertainment and plenty of B.S. is allowed because it’s just a story that’s primarily designed to make money, so neither Disney or the craven fans care about movie series continuity, deeper meaning of the mythology, or anything like that as long as they get what they want!

George:
Some don’t seem to understand the historical problems of having a Jedi family dynasty or how that can pervert, disrupt, and destroy a society or a story..

Ardnt:
Perhaps that’s the point of creating that in the movie-verse, to show that new generation relearning the old lesson over again!

George:
Well, that too is flawed because the Jedi are suppose to be able to see the future. It’s inconsistent even if that ability is imperfect to allow such a possibility to emerge into reality?

Ardnt:
Well if that disaster prevents an even greater disaster even further in the future then it’s preferable, right?

George:
I think this rabbit hole is getting too deep.
OK, never mind, I guess you guys can do what you want…

Luke basically started a new Jedi order from scratch, so he didn’t have to blindly stick to whatever stupid tradition the old order had. Think about what happens in real life: if the catholic priests were allowed to marry and have a healthy normal sexual life, there certainly wouldn’t be as many pedophile psychos in the Church…

I think you got to have a little bit of the EU storylines in the new movies. I consider myself a hardcore Star Wars fan, but have only read a few of the EU books. However, I have read synopsis of many of the EU storylines on wookiepedia and other internet sources. I think a mixture of new and EU storylines for the 7=9 would be great.

I am sure that the Solo and Skywalker kids will be in Episode 7.. maybe not following the Thrawn and LOtF story lines .. and im Ok with that. As long as they’re all great films. I mean, part of the joy of watching new and original story lines is not knowing what will happen next. Just like the original trilogy .. none of us saw that ending coming.. That type of mystery and suspense is what excites me about these new films. No limits

I really think hardcore fans need to accept that the Expanded Universe is about to be relegated to non-canon status. At best you might see names and places from the EU but they will have very little the events of the EU.

Again I hold out what happened when the Clone Wars TV Series decided the Karen Traviss’ depiction of Mandalorian society was wrong.

As a hardcore fan I must say, I hope most of it does get taken to noncannon status since too many bad plots and Lucas vetos (mostly for good reasons) forced better plot ideas down since they had to base there plot on some poorly written prior plotline. That said there are some amazing charaters and minor plot lines Disney would be fools not to adapt into either episode VII or spinoffs, even if it is just a reimagining of whatever said expanded universe plot/character.

I can’t not agree that there are many subpar plots in the EU, but no worse than the prequel films themselves, which I suppose will remain cannon in perpetuity. The best EU plotlines, however, are just as good as any of the films.

I already stated what I think counts as canon, but you reminded me that Corussant wasn’t originally canon. Wasn’t it in a EU story, maybe even the Thrawn trilogy? Good lift either way. Pick and choose carefully, canon makers!

I know they probably won’t, but I really hope they do stick with the EU. I’m not even talking about adapting one of the books. If they do their own storyline, that’s great, a lot of the EU isn’t cut out for movie treatment. Some Star Wars fans, like myself, accept the EU as canon, and have accepted it as canon for decades, though. If they make Star Wars VII in a way that negates all of that, it would be like being told “Hey, I know you’ve become emotionally invested in all these story lines…but I say they didn’t happen,” It would feel like being royally screwed over.

or as Adrian just said, the two movies she was nominated for an oscar for. Silver Linings Playbook and Winter’s Bone. Don’t bother watching House at the End of the Street (the horror movie she was in that you mentioned). It’s a pile of sh*t. and I thought that she gave a fantastic performance in the Hunger Games.

Winters Bone? Honestly havent heard of it, but my girfriend has been trying to get me to see Silver Linings Playbook (i dont know much, just seen a preview once or twice) so i guess now i have more of a motive. Thanks, haha

It’s because Kasdan hasn’t written anything of note since (arguably) Shadows of the Empire in ’96. Before that he did a handful of adaptations no one remembers. It’s really just Empire, Jedi and Raiders that’s he’s known for. The last movie he wrote was the adaptation for Dreamcatcher.

Writing is just like any skill. Stop doing it for a while and you’re going to get rusty. Just ask George Lucas.

Fair point, but given the excellence of Empire, what more encouraging news is there than to have anyone involved in it return while Lucas fades into the background? This may be a disaster, but it sounds like it has a shot at being the best case scenario. Great news, if only for the hopefulness of it.

I am glad to hear the old gang will most likely be coming back sounds like it will beolenty fun, not sure how I feel about the Skywalker children and solo children being in the story never really cared for them that much, hopefully if done I will find it more entertaining

If they are going to use the Solo kids, they need age em properly. The twins were born during the Thrawn Trilogy which is about 8 yrs after Jedi. The legacy stories are some 40 yrs after episode 4, so the kids need to be cast by actors in late 20′s to mid 30′s. Having some 17 yr olds run around is not realistic if they are following canon timeline. While the EU isn’t necessarily canon they cant dismiss it. The prequels and the remastered ROTJ stole from the Zahn books. Zahn was the man who introduced us to the planet Coruscant and Lucas used it in the movies. So they can and should use material from the books.

I am a huge fan of the Expanded Universe, having read many of the books, and those stories will always be canon to me, regardless of how the new films may ignore or change things.

It is great in theory to bring back Hamill, Fisher and Ford, but I hope that if so, it is done tastefully and with some restraint. The prequels received no actual benefit from all of the recycled jokes and the compulsion to include the droids in the story regardless, IMO.

Jaina Solo (Han & Leia’s daughter in the EU) is probably my favorite Star Wars character, period, so I am both excited and afraid at the prospect of her inclusion in VII. Either Jennifer Lawrence or Chloe Moretz might be right for the part. Just have to wait and see…

I am glad to see someone has the same mindset as me with the books. Love them all. besides I would love to see the original gang come back again.

I like Jaina, But my two favorite characters are Darth Bane and Luke Skywalker. Luke being the Grand Jedi Master that becomes the most powerful Jedi in Star Wars History, even more powerful than Yoda and Darth Bane, the man who set the standards for the sith by having one master and one apprentice.

If they jump too far forward, there will probably be a need for younger actors for flashback scenes to the timeline Post-Ep 6 to cover Thrawn and Legacy Trilogy material flashbacks to explain some continuity points. Why? Because if they start far enough in the future, they have to somehow explain the kids, Luke’s wife Mara, and how Boba Fett survived the Sarlac Pit if they are using him at all. I honestly DO NOT want to see another Ep 1 version for Jacen, Jaina, Anakin & Ben, so just fill in the continuity gaps an explainations with flashbacks. Therefore, I propose the following:

Actually, Tron Legacy did the digital youth thing about the worst I’ve ever seen, despite being modern, expensive and supposedly well researched with the help of the actor’s wife for accuracy. While Picard and Gandalf looked a bit odd in Xmen 3′s intro, the effect was much more impressive. Also it looked like those actors were on the screen, whereas Bridges looked painted in! That effort is not the state of the art, but the effect is still in its infancy. “Old” makeup on the other hand has been around forever, and almost always looks cheesy and fake. Anyway, aside from a recast movie of the original characters a la Star Trek, I doubt we’ll be seing scenes of those characters being played by a new cast. I’d bet all my money on it, actually. It would be jarring and people would hate it. Recasting is risky enough, and worked for Star Trek, but if they had just told a story with a few flashbacks wherein the actors had all changed the reaction would probably be “WTF?”

I hope, at the very least, they consult the EU timeline, and don’t just throw all that away. There is a ton of material that is proven to be a favorite of fans. So yeah, I’m hoping for the books to play a huge part in going forward.

Why are the books more important than the movies now? This isn’t Harry Potter or LOTR. Star Wars got popular because of the movies so Lucasfilm and Disney aren’t entitled to follow the EU if they don’t want to.

Because, for the last 2 decades, the books have been the most prolific source of Star Wars material, and a source of arguably much better storytelling than any film released in the last quarter century. Many of us who fell in love with the classic trilogy found wonderfully fullfilling continuation of that in the Expanded Universe books long before the prequels brought films back into the equation.

Of course Lucasfilm and Disney are not obligated to use EU story material, but they could do a lot worse. And if they do happen to be interested in making longtime fans happy (which would be really nice), they should at least consider it.

I don’t like the idea of a female protagonist. This is taking feminism too far. Can we just agree that certain geek things are predominantly male-oriented? The vast majority of Star wars fanatics are male. Let us have a protagonist we can identify with. This obsession with inserting females into action leads (Brave, zero dark Thirty, etc)just feels artificial, like the trend of getting black actors to play traditionally white roles.

The Jedi are modelled after the Japanese Samurai, and there were no female Samurai. Is nothing sacred?

Are you serious? Feminism? Part of me thinks that you are being sarcastic. First, I am a male, and I love female characters. Really. Second, I am a human (or sentient being in this context), and I can identify with others regardless of gender. Third, I know for a fact that there are many female Star Wars fans. Do not neglectfully disrespect them, the positive role model that Leia was, or the universal appeal of Star Wars itself.

I My self hope that Disney does go the way of the other books that talk about the off spring. of both Han/Liea and Luke Skywalker and every thing else mentioned in those trilogies I have read most of them just the first book or so but all where good and they took the story the way I think George Lucas wanted his movies to go.

Sorry but why follow the Expanded universe? You’ve already got the books for that also some of the stuff they put in the expanded universe was just stupid. A clone emperor? So Darth Vader’s sacrifice is now void. Then there’s every single battle station they had The Empire creating like the galaxy gun for instance because according to the EU, The Empire turned into Cobra from GI Joe after ROTJ.

Agree and disagree with this…. Both the clone Emperor and Galaxy Gun are from the same comic. Don’t use both as indication of the whole expanded universe of post RotJ as being bad. That’s a fallacy argument… at least include some Kevin J Anderson and his b******* like the Suncrusher too or a toddler in a lightsaber fight kicking ass.

That said some of the books are amazing, such as anything by Timothy Zahn (Thrawn Trilogy, or Hand of Thrawn Dulogy), I Jedi, half the X wing books, or the Legacy comics. Now some other series post RotJ had moments of being amazing but overall will likely greatly conflict overall with Georges plans… those being the New Jedi Order series (nineteen books!! And they kill off chewie and one solo kid) , Legacy of the Force books (rehash of vader with another solo kid, starts off great ends very convoluted), and Fate of the Jedi…. if that villains makes it into the movies I won’t be seeing episode VIII since she was that bloody stupid, disappointing and just poorly designed. I mean really a monster from the force itself that tries to kill all creation when someone breaks there destiny and possesses Lukes old girl friend just cause she wants Luke (though Id love the minor villain in that series of a planet full of Sith and a second group of With acting indepently of them moving in the background)

I have to chime in here – I, Jedi is the worst-writtenn Star Wars book of all time in my experience (which is not comprehensive, but I have read around 30 of the EU books). Again, I, Jedi is the worst-written Star Wars book ever, IMO. But otherwise, I agree.

Granted, the clone storyline was bull (jeez, what is it with cloning and crappy writing? Think Spider-Man). But Chewie’s death was actually one of the most gut-wrenching dramatic moments of the entire Star Wars timeline, precisely because we all love him so much and because his was such a honorable, selfless death. Star Wars at its very best.

No art form is less worthy than the others, and if the masses are too stupid to realize that, it’s their loss. Many important works of art have never been translated to the big screen, and for those which have, usually the original is better.

I don’t know if it’s depicted in a crappy book. Personally, I read it in a comic and it moved me more than any moment in the whole 6 films. Maybe people hated it because they usually don’t like to be taken out of their comfort zone, and being deprived of a beloved character does just that.